Remote staff: Legal risks lurk across state lines.

Do you allow employees to regularly work from home? Be careful if even one of them lives in another state. Employers have found out (the hard way) that they could be subject to the other state's jurisdiction and employment laws.

Telecommuters in the U.S. (in millions) 1980 2.2 1990 3.4 1997 9.2 2010 13.4 2020* 19.2 Source: Recognize app analytics Note: Table made from bar graph. So before authorizing telecommuting, make sure you know where that person's home office will be and how the employment laws differ in that state. Otherwise, you may find yourself having to comply with a whole new set of employment laws.

One option: Consider restricting telecommuting locations to in-state only.

Recent case: Herbert worked as the chief financial officer for a company in Pennsylvania. For two days each week, he worked from his home in New York City.

While working at his home office one day, Herbert got a call from the company owner, who...